Congress Faces Pressure to Reverse Physician Pay Cuts
On January 18th, Congress passed a two-step continuing resolution (CR) to avert a government shutdown and extend funding through early March.
Despite strong advocacy from physicians, Congress failed to include in the CR a provision to reverse the 3.37% cut in the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule that went into effect on January 1st.
Reversing the Medicare payment cut remains top priority for physicians. Recently, a bipartisan group of nearly 200 Congressional members co-signed a letter to Senate and House leaders calling for swift passage of legislation to prevent the cut. Last month, the Heart Rhythm Society joined the American Medical Association (AMA) and other national medical organizations and state medical societies in sending a letter to Congressional leadership urging them to quickly act to preserve access to care in the Medicare program.
The potential for a retroactive fix is still possible. If you have not already done so, please take action using the AMA’s Fix Medicare Now campaign to urge Congress to reverse the 3.37% Medicare payment cut retroactive to January 1st.